Up In Flames
by soccermonkey413
Summary: Genevieve has spent her entire life running. From Douglas, from her past, and now from Pierce, a powerful man with dangerous ideals, and plans she can't even imagine. So far, she has barely managed to pull through with a combination of skill, guts, and sheer luck. But now, with her past coming back to haunt her, Genevieve must face the most dangerous enemy of all. Herself.
1. Chapter 1

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 1 (Leo and Bree's P.O.V.)

**Leo**

Leo and Adam walked into the lab and halted the argument that consisted of Leo trying to convince his brother that a pronoun was _not_ a noun that had lost its amateur status.

Hazel and Genevieve had been standing over near the capsules, having an intense conversation from the looks of it, but the two had suddenly stopped talking the second Leo and his older brother had entered. And it wasn't the first time either. Ever since the bionics had rescued Genevieve's twin, the two of them had been having lots of secret conversations, tucked away in the corners of the house. If they were catching up, then they could do it in a living room in their pajamas over popcorn like normal girls. Well, as normal as bionics could get anyway. They were hiding something. Leo intended to find out what.

PAGE BREAK

"So basically you think it's OK to fill my locker with Jello for what reason again?" asked Genevieve angrily.

"Would you relax? It's just a prank, I thought you liked those," said Leo pacifyingly.

"I don't specifically have anything against them, but there is seriously a time and place for everything and this is not the time _or_ the place to be filling my locker with weirdly colored substances!" snapped the bionic teen.

"Would you chill out?" replied Leo, now starting to become a little frightened.

"No, I will not chill out. How am I supposed to get my books out of there?" Genevieve said coldly.

"Eat your way through?" he suggested innocently.

"You are such an… ugh!" said Genevieve angrily. At that moment, the school book Leo was carrying and his backpack burst into flames while the water fountain next to them melted into a molten puddle on the floor.

Frantically dropping his supplies, Leo threw his bag onto the ground, hurriedly stomping on it in an effort to extinguish the unnatural flames that consumed his possession but it was no use. In less than thirty seconds, before anyone could get a fire extinguisher, what had been a backpack was now a shrunken, smoldering block of fabric.

"Extra credit project for science class," Leo lied to the crowd that had gathered. Shrugging, the students dismissed it simply as Leo Dooley antics and started to disperse.

"What was that about?" Leo asked Genevieve quietly so the remaining onlookers wouldn't hear.

At that moment he noticed how pale her face was, the white-knuckled grip she had on her school books. Instead of answering, Genevieve backed away slowly, before her things clattered to the ground as she ran out the building.

PAGE BREAK

**Bree**

Bree and Chase walked out into the backyard to see Genevieve, knees tucked into her chest has she twirled a blade of grass between her fingers.

"Hey," Bree said, attempting a smile as she and her brother walked up behind her friend. "You left your stuff at school."

"Thanks," Genevieve muttered, not glancing up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Chase as they sat down next to her.

"Talk about what?" asked Genevieve, but Bree could read between the lines, could sense the panic in her voice and see it in the way the grass she had been playing with suddenly dropped from her fingers. She decided to press her anyway.

"Genevieve, don't treat us like we're idiots. Chase and I both know that it was your pyrokinesis that acted up earlier and fried Leo's things, not to mention disintegrated the water fountain faster than bags of marshmallows disappear into Adam's mouth."

"Oh, I see. So what you're basically saying, is that while your allowed to have lives of your own, I on the other hand have to share every teensy little detail of my life with all of you no matter how private. Sure, that's completely fair," said Genevieve angrily, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Genevieve, we're not saying that," began Chase as he attempted to soothe her but she cut him off.

"Well then what are you saying? Because that's sure what it sounds like to me."

"We're saying we want to help you because we're your friends!" burst out Bree. "I want to know why you can't see that. Adam's supposed to be the dumb one around here!"

The grass next to Bree's hand burst into flames, and she jumped up, reflexively getting ready to get into a fight before realizing what had happened and stomping it out. "See that? Genevieve, that is _exactly_ what we're referring to," Bree announced as she pointed to the black patch of what used to be grass.

"We just want to help you," added Chase gently.

Genevieve opened her mouth, fire in her eyes, ready for an argument before visibly deflating. "OK. Fine, you're right. I can't seem to control my pyrokinesis lately, no matter how hard I try. It's some sort of uncontrollable glitch. Whenever I get any sudden emotion, it spikes and shoots out of me and I can't stop it. I feel like a time bomb."

"Well why haven't you told Mr. Davenport yet? He could help you, maybe tweak your chip so that you could control it easier," suggested Bree, but Genevieve was already shaking her head.

"No. He wouldn't be able to look at it that way. He's a scientist Bree, an inventor. Yes, he'd be concerned, but that would come after. First Mr. Davenport would want to test it, to see what makes it work the way it does and how to trigger it. I'm an _experiment_ to him. He actually cares about you two and Adam, so you wouldn't understand. But me, the only reason he wants me is because I'm a wild card. I can turn the tide on Pierce and Douglas and he knows it, so he wants me on his side as a bionic not a person. He'd help me after he learned all he could about it, and by then it would be too late," Genevieve said, looking at Bree and her brother, eyes begging, pleading with them to understand her reasoning.

"You'll have to tell him sooner or later," insisted Chase weakly, but Bree could tell that like her, he knew that Genevieve was in her stubborn mood and that there was no talking her out of it, not when her mind was this set on something.

"I choose later," Genevieve replied as she stood up and brushed the grass and dirt off of her skinny jeans. "And please, don't you two tell him either. Not until I'm ready."

"Is there any chance we can change your mind?" asked Bree hopefully. When Genevieve shook her head, Bree sighed in annoyance. "Fine, I won't tell."

"Thanks," said the younger teen gratefully. "Chase?"

"I don't like it," her brother said.

"Chase, please?" Genevieve asked softly.

"You have to promise you _will_ eventually tell him," said Chase instead.

"Eventually," she agreed.

"OK, then I promise too. I won't tell him you can't control your pyrokinesis until you're ready for him to know," he said, caving into the brunette's desires.

"Thank you," said Genevieve, sagging with relief. "This really means a lot."

"What does it feel like?" asked Bree before her friend could leave. "When your pyrokinesis goes out of control, what does it feel like?"

"It feels," she paused, considering it. "It feels like I'm a stranger in my own body, unable to stop it. Like I'm watching myself go up in flames and am powerless to do anything."


	2. Chapter 2

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 2 (Genevieve's P.O.V.)

"Adam, the earth is not flat," Genevieve's sister argued with the oldest bionic.

"I want proof. They said it was flat in history class yesterday," Adam said smugly.

"Adam, I don't go to school, but I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that they said people _used to think_ it was flat, not that it _is_ flat," insisted Hazel in exasperation.

"Prove it." Adam said stubbornly.

"I will get you _pictures_, that show a _round earth_," said Hazel, speaking slowly and clearly.

"Guys I would _love_ to see how long you two could carry on this argument," Leo broke in, halting the fight, "But we need Adam to drive us to school, which means we need to leave."

"Fine, whatever," consented Hazel as she walked over to give Genevieve a hug goodbye. "I'll see you later sis."

"Likewise," she replied, gripping her sister.

The twins let go and Genevieve went with her friends to the door, while Hazel walked down to the lab.

PAGE BREAK

"Ready for your algebra test later?" asked Chase as he came up behind Genevieve at her locker.

"Nope," she confessed. "I hate numbers."

"Just relax, and you'll do fine," her boyfriend insisted. "I went over everything that could possibly be on the test with you sixty-seven times. You're ready."

"Thanks. Kiss for luck?" she teased.

Grinning, he pulled her in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Anytime."

"Hey, is it just me or do those three look creepy to you?" asked Bree as she came up to them. "Also, where are their backpacks?"

Genevieve turned to see whom she was pointing to and her heart jumped into her throat. She couldn't breathe.

It was two girls and a boy. The girls were ridiculously thin and agile, the taller one dressed in black and the other in dark red with gothic make-up, both of them in combat boots. The boy was bulked up to the point where he could've been on steroids, wearing cargo pants and a green shirt. Their bodies looked absolutely nothing like they had when she'd known them, but their faces. Genevieve could never forget their faces. Even though it had been years since she'd seen them, even though she thought Douglas had killed them for not working out.

They looked at her, and the boy smiled without showing any teeth, like a predator about to attack.

Her world began to tilt while white spots swam at the edge of her vision and the ground rushed up to meet her as everything faded into black.

PAGE BREAK

_Genevieve. Genevieve. Genevieve._ Someone was calling, but she couldn't figure out who, the all encompassing blackness making it hard to tell what was going on, making it impossible to see anything that was happening outside the darkness that held her tight.

A frigid blast of cold suddenly drenched her, and her eyes shot open as Genevieve bolted into sitting position, coughing and cold and soaking wet with ice all around her to see Adam standing over her with a huge glass pitcher that was dripping water from the mouth and a crowd of students looking at her.

"What was that for?" she demanded, trying to brush the water off of her. The memories suddenly all came flooding back and she remembered seeing the three. Her throat closed off and Genevieve frantically looked around for them as she stood up only to sag against the locker as all the blood rushed to her head.

"Easy Genevieve," said Chase, grabbing her by the shoulder to support her. "Come on, we're taking you to the sick room to go lay down."

"I'm fine," Genevieve insisted, but even she could tell she wasn't. She still couldn't process what she'd seen, her legs felt rubbery and her voice sounded tired.

"Genevieve people don't just faint for no reason. Come on, you're going to go lie down and that's final," her boyfriend insisted. Rolling her eyes, she allowed him to take her by the arm and followed as he led her to the sick room. As they walked, Genevieve let her eyes rove the hallways, searching for the girls and boy.

Entering the sick room, Genevieve sat down on one of the beds as the lunch bell rang. "Who am I seeing?" asked Nurse Sheridan from her office.

"Genevieve," said Chase. "Sophomore."

"Last name?" the nurse asked. Chase glanced over at her and she saw he was slightly panicking. She didn't have a last name and they both knew that, but the nurse didn't. She'd made up a name when she'd enrolled for the same reason she'd attended the school: to seem normal. Unfortunately, Genevieve couldn't remember what it was at the moment as her mind seemed full of cotton.

Chase opened his mouth, probably intending to lie before the nurse said, "Never mind, I found her. Genevieve Weston. Why is she here?" Chase walked over and began explaining how she'd passed out, but Genevieve didn't stay to listen. The second he was in the office, she stood up and quickly slipped out the door, checking in empty classrooms and around corners, looking for the three she'd seen and wondering how they could still be alive.

The only noise was coming from the cafeteria since it was lunchtime, making it sound oddly quiet in the school since the lunch room was on the other side of campus. It was _never_ this quiet.

She was almost back to the main hall when she found one of them. Peeking into the chemistry lab, Genevieve's mouth turned dry as she saw her.

"Elizabeth," Genevieve said quietly as she stepped inside.

The girl who she'd once counted as a friend when she was younger, the girl she had stayed awake at night with when they were supposed to be asleep and giggled together looked at her, her eyes as cold as marble.

"Who's Elizabeth?" she asked, her voice cold and unfeeling.

Genevieve felt her heart drop into her stomach. "You are. You're Elizabeth remember? We didn't like being called subject this and subject that and picked out names for ourselves. And your older brother and sister decided on Frank and Dakota since they thought Fergus and Dee were stupid."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elizabeth said, her words insistent, her tone neutral.

"You have to. How can you not remember me? Don't you remember anything we did together?" Genevieve begged, in very real danger of crying.

"I don't remember you, much less what we did together," the young girl replied, her eyes hollow and glassy.

"What about the time when I first reached three hundred miles an hour on my super speed? Or when Dakota first got a handle on her heat vision, and you finally imitated someone on purpose with your vocal manipulation? Six years of memories don't just go away Elizabeth! How could you let them take those from you?" her tone was rising, so angry was she at the people who'd taken her friend from her that the fury was pouring out at the girl who deserved it the least.

"D and F and I are supposed to capture you," said Elizabeth, still in that same, ugly, robotic voice.

"I don't care about that. I want to know how you're alive and why you don't remember me! Come on Elizabeth, think!" she yelled desperately, tears coming to her eyes. "I saw your chip overload, saw you and your siblings die as Douglas pushed your chips past your tolerance. How are you here? What did they do to you? _Who_ did this to you?"

A sickly smile rose onto Elizabeth's lips as they parted to speak the words, "Right on schedule."

Blinking away the tears that blurred her vision, Genevieve frowned before hearing the faint step of a shoe behind her.

Her instincts kicked in and she jumped onto the lab table, landing and turning to see Frank throw a desk into the spot where she'd just been standing, Dakota hovering above him. Genevieve's brain seemed to freeze. Where had they gotten these new abilities and how had Dakota mastered her flight so well? When she'd last seen them Dakota had barely been able to levitate six feet for five seconds, but now she was over ten feet in the air, expression tense but muscles relaxed, signifying the ease with which she was flying. And Frank wasn't supposed to have super strength, how could he easily throw a desk twenty feet?

Her focus snapped back as Dakota fired lasers at her, barely cartwheeling out of the way as more questions crowded her focus. How was she using two abilities at once and not even straining herself? Genevieve could barely manage that and afterwards she was exhausted.

"I won't fight you," Genevieve said stubbornly as the three of them circled in front of her, menacing and unfeeling. A blur shot by and Elizabeth was suddenly behind her, kicking her in the back. Catching herself, she zipped to the other side of the classroom. She stopped though, as a foreign emotion entered her mind. Calm. But no, this was wrong. Why should she be feeling calm when three people who used to be her friends wanted to take her to captivity? Fighting against the emotion, she saw Elizabeth staring at her intently, and Genevieve realized on some vague scale that she was being inflicted on.

Summoning her own anger to combat it, she forced away the surreal fog, clinging to her fury and dispelling the unreal emotions.

_Wham!_ A fist stronger than titanium knocked into the side of her head, probably Frank using his molecular integrity, and she was thrown across the room, sending her crashing into the wall. Sliding down, she collapsed into the floor, everything sounding tinny and far away. Another one picked her up and zoomed her up to the ceiling.

"Dakota, try to remember," Genevieve choked out, gasping as she tried to reclaim the breath the punch had knocked out of her.

No response, except for Dakota's eyes starting to glow red.

Panicking, she increased their gravity tenfold, interfering with Dakota's flight and jerking them downwards. Sensing what was happening, Dakota dropped her and flew away, but she was too disoriented to decrease her gravity down to normal and slammed into the floor, her temple clipping a desk on the way down, blood flowing down her face.

Wiping it out of her vision, she saw the three of them coming at her but she was too weak to rise, to confused to do anything as Frank picked her up and threw her across the room again, landing her hard on the floor as she slid into a desk. Elizabeth blurred over, kicking and punching her even though she was on the ground, forming bruises and bringing blood. Dakota flew over and picked her up and flew her over to the ceiling, eyes beginning to glow red again. Summoning some strength possessed not in her body, she brought her legs up and kicked Dakota in the stomach. Hard. Caught by surprise, Dakota dropped her and she crashed down, barely able to use her effect on gravity to slow her fall down a little bit. Genevieve hit the ground rolling, and bumped into the wall, stars swimming in front of her eyes. Her vision cleared just a little bit, just enough to see the three of them coming menacingly toward her before it happened.

_No. Not now, please, not now_. But it was no use. Her pyrokinesis took control of her, and her real mind took a backseat as Genevieve pulled in the heat from all around her, draining it off of the three who used to be her friends and sending it into the classroom all around her. Lights exploded and fires erupted on the desks and in the walls, eating their way through the chemicals that soaked the air in the classroom.

Regaining control, Genevieve came back into her body again and witnessed the damage, only to be dragged out again as her pyrokinesis activated uncontrollably once more and a wave of heat shot towards the window, blowing it outwards with a huge explosion. Screams started sounding from the next hallway down where the cafeteria was and the fire began working its way out the door, towards the rest of the school.

Genevieve, Elizabeth and Frank dove out the window, Dakota zipping over them to see the fire rapidly spreading as it began to consume the building. Genevieve realized that if she didn't act while the three were distracted by the flames, she'd never get away. They didn't remember her, they would capture her and not feel anything about it. Hating herself for what she was about to do, Genevieve summoned her exhaustion — not hard to do in her current state — and inflicted it onto Elizabeth and Frank, causing them to sway before collapsing with drowsiness.

"Dakota, please look at me," Genevieve pleaded, knowing that this girl was her best hope. "You have an eidetic memory, they can't make you forget anything, let alone six years worth of memories. You can remember me, you can fight whatever they've done to you. It's me, Genevieve. Remember, you gave me the nickname Gwen because you decided the name I wanted was too hard to say?"

Dakota's eyes blinked slowly, and she dropped to the ground. "Genevieve…" she murmured, looking at her, and _seeing_ her, actually seeing her.

She wanted to shout with relief as she swiped the blood off of her head before Dakota's face hardened. "I don't know you." Her eyes began to glow red again as she prepared to fire her lasers and Genevieve reacted on instinct, using her molecular kinesis to reflect the lasers back into Dakota. The older girl crumpled to the ground, unconscious and Genevieve sobbed when she realized what she'd done, tears mixing with blood as she stumbled away from the three who used to be her greatest friends, who now saw her only as an enemy.

The blood ran into her face repeatedly, no matter how hard she tried to wipe it away and the tears continued to flow. She staggered around the side of the building to see the school evacuated, the students watching it burn with a quiet sort of sincerity. Someone saw her and shouted and the students began swarming her, asking what had happened and where she'd been.

But she didn't answer, just kept walking, trying to keep it together. Four people fought their way through the crowd, and on some level she registered being scooped up into someone's arms as the other three yelled at the crowd to give her space. Blood was brushed out of her face and a voice made its way through the fuzziness of her head. _What happened? Who did this to you_? But all she could do was keep on crying as the blood kept on flowing, before giving up on the fight to stay awake and letting herself succumb into the blissful darkness that pulled her under, covering her like a thick blanket as she fell unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 3 (Pierce's P.O.V.)

Pierce watched unfeelingly as the three bionics were beaten again and again by enhanced henchmen. Before the beatings had been the blocks to soften their back tissue followed by fishhooks to tear off the skin. All of the punishment they took unflinchingly, tears streaking down their faces, the youngest one occasionally letting out a whimper, but they never complained, never asked for it to stop, never screamed. For they knew that any sign of weakness would only lead to more punishment. Pierce bathed in their fear, relished it. When people feared you, you had power over them. And he wanted nothing more than power over every person on the planet.

"Enough." That word left his lips and the henchmen immediately ceased their beatings. They bowed to him and turned, walking away smartly. The medics came over and cut the subjects free from their posts. Grabbing rags soaked with antiseptic gel, the doctors applied them to the bionics backs, holding them where the skin had been torn before wrapping their chests and stomachs with ace bandages to stem the bleeding. That was all Pierce ever allowed them to do. Make sure the wounds didn't get infected and prevent excessive blood loss. No more, no less. Enough to make sure they were fit for missions, but little enough to make sure the punishment was given and the message received.

After the medics left, Pierce let the three of them stand for a while, before saying, "Turn around."

The bionics turned, their faces hard, paths from tears glittering on the cheeks of the two oldest and still flowing down the face of the youngest.

"You know why you were punished," Pierce stated.

They didn't respond, just stood there staring at him, features blank.

"You are aware of course, of what happened to the men who failed to obtain G and H correct?" He asked. Pierce had given some of his henchmen the task of capturing the bionic twins and given them a slow acting poison before sending them out. Had they been successful, they would have received the antidote.

They had not been successful.

Their deaths had been slow and painful.

"You three will not suffer the same fate, because I am going to give you another chance. Also, because it took me five years to get your chips operational and that is not an amount of time I would like to have put to waste. You are going to attempt once more to capture the twins. If you succeed, you will be rewarded. Fail, and the consequences will be dire."

"But I knew her," said D.

For a moment, Pierce was too surprised to answer. None of them ever interrupted him, and D had been wiped. She should have absolutely no memory of anything that had happened in her past before coming here with her siblings.

"What do you mean, you knew her?" Pierce asked slowly, making sure his voice betrayed no trace of panic.

"I've seen her before. I know I have," the eldest insisted.

Frank and Elizabeth were staring at their sister strangely, but she didn't seem to notice, staring intently at Pierce and making him slightly uncomfortable.

"It must have been your imagination. You've been around Subject H for years and they are twins after all," he attempted, but she shook her head.

"This was different. I know it wasn't my imagination. I've seen her before."

Her face was insistent, and so he turned and summoned a doctor. "Wipe her. I want her to have a clean slate understand?"

The medic nodded before heading off to get the equipment. Without sparing the subjects a glance, Pierce walked into his office and started composing an email to his eastern facility.

He was halfway through before his pager buzzed. "Mr. Pierce your associate is here to see you."

Pierce pressed the button and replied, "Send him in." He added one more line to the email before taking his hands off the keyboard as the darkly dressed man walked inside.

"How is our special project coming along?" Pierce questioned, hands resting on his fingertips.

"Everything is moving according to schedule. Growth is continuing along as planned and almost all have reached the halfway stage of their development," the man reported.

"Wonderful. Now, I need to know how the new wipe process is coming along. Have you perfected it yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," his associate answered. "But we're getting closer every day. It should be finished within next month."

"Next month?" asked Pierce incredulously. "You do realize I pay you because you're efficient correct?"

"Tampering with any portion of the brain needs the utmost sophistication, and erasing neuron data requires the most delicate touch possible. We are decades ahead of any other science field, you have to allow us margin for error," the man responded.

"I am fully aware of how difficult the work you do is, but I need that project sooner rather than later," Pierce looked his colleague in the eye and explained. "Subject D is starting to remember. During her encounter with Subject G on a mission earlier she began to recall knowing her. No specific memories, but D is aware that it's not her imagination. I have the doctors wiping her now, but I need the new cleaner otherwise she'll keep remembering faster than before."

"I'm not surprised she remembers. D was engineered to never forget anything no matter what," Pierce's coworker mused. "I would guess that seeing G acted as a trigger to begin bringing back some of those memories. That is how I designed — I mean, how her brain is supposed to work."

Pierce frowned at the slipup, and once more it hit him just how little he knew about his collaborator. "Very well. I expect a prototype in no less than eight days, have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal." And with that his associate turned heel and walked towards the door.

"You know," Pierce called, stopping him with his hand on the handle. "I find it a bit odd that you've been my top scientist for years and yet I don't know your name."

"Maybe, however I only recently gained the privilege of meeting with you face to face instead of through email. This company runs on secrecy, I think I'll hang onto mine a little longer." The handle turned and the shadowy man silently slipped out, leaving Pierce to wonder just how smart was he truly being to trust a man he knew so little about, a man who he was only just beginning to truly get to know.


	4. Chapter 4

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 4 (Bree and Genevieve's P.O.V.)

**Bree**

Bree sat in the lab holding a glass of water, trying to focus on the knowledge that thanks to Hazel, Genevieve would be better soon. The bionic girls cell regeneration was literally a lifesaver. But instead, all Bree could think about was when Genevieve had emerged from the side of the building, blood streaming down her head, arms and legs accumulating a bruised look, sobbing like her heart was breaking.

She closed her eyes, desperately trying to dispel the memories but it was no use. The screams coming from the cafeteria as the students realized their school was on fire as the teachers came in, managing to get some semblance of order out of the chaos, enough to lead the students outside. She and her brothers frantically looking around from Genevieve. Seeing their friend come out from behind the school half dead-

Bree threw herself away from the sudden crash that had sounded, only to realize that it had been her. She'd accidentally squeezed the glass she'd been holding too hard and it had shattered. Grateful for the distraction, Bree knelt on the ground and began to pick up the pieces, soon joined by Chase.

Bree looked up at her brother in worry. Chase hadn't said a word since he'd picked up Genevieve and taken her home. He'd gotten into a heated argument with the teachers who'd wanted to call an ambulance, an argument that thankfully Chase had won, and carried her two blocks until they had been able to duck into an alley, where he'd passed the unconscious bionic off to Bree to super speed her back home.

She had done so, and then waited to go back to her brothers until after Genevieve was with Hazel. The uninjured twin had sworn so profusely when she saw her sister that Mr. Davenport had threatened to install a censor into her chip, prompting Hazel to look at him with disgust before setting to work healing Genevieve. Bree had then sped back and forth for her brothers until they were all in the lab, and they had been waiting there for two hours now while Genevieve recovered.

"She's sleeping," said Hazel as she walked out of the sick room. Bree sighed with relief and Chase grinned tiredly as he slid down the wall and onto the floor. Leo made the mistake of bumping chests with Adam, causing the younger teen to fly backwards thirty feet and smash into the wall.

"When can we see her?" Chase demanded.

"I'd say thirty minutes," replied Hazel.

"Thirty minutes?" her brother asked incredulously. "I thought you were a _good_ healer."

"Chase, you have to understand the extensive damage done to her. She'd already lost a lot of blood, and she had internal bleeding on her head as well as the other damage. Not to mention there was a dent in her skull that made it look like she'd been hit by a brick. If Genevieve wasn't bionic then she'd be dead right now, no questions asked, and even so we're lucky it wasn't worse," Hazel snapped. "My healing ability revolves mostly around regenerating cells, how do you think I feel that it took me so long? That's my sister in there!"

"If you two are done bickering don't I get a say in this?" sounded a voice.

The five of them turned towards the sick room — Hazel with an expression of surprise — to see a shaky looking Genevieve standing in the sick room doorway as she walked over. Chase ran over and scooped her into a hug. "Are you OK?" he immediately asked.

"I'll be fine, thanks to Hazel," Genevieve assured him. "You're seriously a miracle worker sis."

"I've barely had you back in my life for two months, there's no way I'm letting you get away from me that easily," the twin teased.

Bree grinned at the banter before walking over and hugging her friend. "Genevieve, who did this to you?" she asked intently.

A scowl rose to the girls face and Bree could almost see her mental shields slamming up. "No one. I was trying to get away from the fire and tripped into a desk."

"OK, even _I_ know that's not true," called Adam.

"Genevieve, we just want to help you," Bree tried but Genevieve cut her off.

"Hazel, a word?" The twins shared a look and Bree scowled. Probably that link of theirs. The two turned and walked out the room.

"Chase, can you hear what they're saying?" Leo immediately asked once the twins were outside.

Nodding, the bionic made like he was brushing hair behind his ear to activate his bionic hearing. But then suddenly he scowled. "Genevieve put up a force field, I can't make out the conversation." As if to counteract his claim, Chase suddenly tensed. "Wait, they're coming back. Act natural!"

The four quickly assumed what they considered 'natural poses' around the lab as Hazel and Genevieve reentered. "Adam, why do you look like a statue giving a speech?" questioned Hazel. Bree glanced over from her magazine and silently groaned. Adam had one hand out to an imaginary crowd like he was giving a lecture, the other on his hip and a smile plastered onto his face.

"I'm not giving a speech, I'm acting natural," replied Adam, barely moving his lips.

"OK, does someone want to tell me what on earth happened earlier?" demanded Mr. Davenport as he stormed into the lab.

"Long story short: school caught on fire, probably a large pile of ash by now, Genevieve got beat up and won't tell us by who and if Hazel hadn't healed her then there's a good chance she'd be dead right now," summarized Adam.

"Genevieve got_ beat up_?" the inventor asked, his expression aghast. "You see, this is exactly why I didn't want you guys to leave her alone at school!"

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" asked Genevieve, her tone dangerously low.

"Oh, Mr. Davenport wanted the four of us to spy on you at school what with all those attacks that happened last month," answered Adam innocently, referring to the barrage of attacks that had happened for six weeks after they'd rescued Hazel.

"He had you do _what_?" demanded Genevieve angrily.

"Yeah and he also put trackers in your clothes," Adam added.

"Adam!" said Mr. Davenport angrily.

"You didn't tell me?" asked Genevieve, looking at Bree. The middle bionic was consumed with guilt but forced herself to hold her friends gaze. She owed her that.

"Genevieve, why are you so upset?" asked the dark-haired scientist but the youngest bionic cut a glare at him so intense, that if looks could kill he would've died on the spot.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me, for thinking I have the right to know that my best friends are _spying on me_!" exploded Genevieve angrily.

A ring of fire suddenly erupted around Mr. Davenport and all of the teens jumped back in fright.

Hazel quickly stepped forward as the flames crept closer to the scientist, and then the flames turned orange and yellow, and then red before dissipating into smoke as Hazel used her cyrokinesis to counter her sisters fire.

"I am so sorry," whispered Genevieve hoarsely. Bree turned to see her friend at the door, hands over her mouth and tears coming to her eyes.

"Genevieve, don't be sorry. It wasn't _your_ fault," consoled Hazel, glaring at the other bionics.

"Yes it was," she said miserably.

The older twin opened her mouth to argue, but they then shared a look so intense Bree could almost _see_ the link data flowing between them.

"Genevieve, we're sorry we didn't trust you but can't you at least tell us who attacked you? We just want to help," asked Leo, as he tugged the inventor to his feet.

"I'm not so sure I want to help her actually, now that she almost _killed me_!" said Mr. Davenport angrily.

A sob escaped Genevieve's lips and Bree's friend turned and ran from the lab.

"That was uncalled for," said Hazel, her tone deadly as anger dripped from her every syllable.

"Genevieve almost barbequed me. I think I've earned some anger," said the inventor dismissively.

"Genevieve can't control her pyrokinesis idiot! And the only reason she hasn't told you that already is because she knows that you only see her as an experiment, not a real person! You wouldn't help her until you knew absolutely everything about how the ability worked and by then it would be too late! And if you're going to fault her for something that you pushed her to and that's beyond her control, then I should've let you burn!" and with that, Hazel ran out the lab after her sister.

"She can't control it?" asked Mr. Davenport, turning to the bionics.

"Yeah," said Bree, not meeting his eyes.

"Why didn't she tell me?" he demanded. "No, why didn't _you_ tell me? Who else knows?"

"I knew," said Chase, stepping up beside his sister. "And we didn't tell you because she asked us not to for the same reasons Hazel just said. She didn't trust you to help her and we wanted to respect her wishes."

"Well why'd she tell you two and not us?" asked Adam.

"Oh, I don't know Adam. Maybe because we can actually keep a secret instead of just vomiting out whatever comes to mind?" asked Bree derisively.

"I can keep a secret!" said Leo defensively.

The teens and Mr. Davenport looked at him incredulously and he relented, "OK. _Sometimes_, I can keep a secret."

PAGE BREAK

**Genevieve**

_Fire._

_Flames dancing behind her eyelids, the school turning into a cinder, Leo's supplies spontaneously combusting. The people she loved, going up in flames._

_Genevieve!_

_Adam, already gone, the last remnants of the flame eating away at his ashes._

_Genevieve!_

_Bree, trying desperately to run away from the fire that followed her, only to find that for once she couldn't run fast enough as Genevieve's pyrokinesis caught up to her, consuming the girl that used to be, killing her in seconds._

_Genevieve!_

_Leo, burning up bit by bit, flames covering his body._

_Genevieve!_

_Mr. Davenport, trying to fight it, screaming for her to stop._

_Genevieve!_

_Chase, suspended in mid-air, flames pouring out of his eyes, mouth, nose and ears, consumed with the fire that ate away everything in its path._

_Genevieve!_

_Hazel, pleading with her, trying to combat it with her cyrokinesis but Genevieve was too powerful, too strong for her twin to stop._

_Genevieve!_

_And Genevieve, looking at the faces of the people she'd killed, the last resistance._

_Turning, she looked grimly at the burning city, the never-ending flame that spread out across the rest of the country._

_And she smiled._

_Genevieve!_

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself collapsed on the floor of her capsule, tears streaming down her face and someone screaming. She realized the noise was coming from her and she stopped, but Genevieve couldn't stop the sobs that shook her to the core, couldn't stop the nightmare from engraving itself onto her eyelids.

The door opened and Hazel tugged her out, enveloping her into a hug that Genevieve wanted nothing more than to stay in forever but she pushed her away. Hazel was safer away from her.

Everyone was safer away from her.

Tears streaming down her face, she blurred to the roof, huddling in a corner and letting herself cry.

PAGE BREAK

Walking down to the now thankfully empty lab, she spotted a note that she hadn't seen stuck to her capsule before. Frowning, she walked over, pried it off and unfolded it to see three words. _Midnight. Same place._ A grim smile rose to her lips. She'd know that handwriting anywhere.

It was the handwriting of the man who had first explained her purpose, the handwriting of the man who had the answers.

PAGE BREAK

"I still say no."

"I heard you the first twenty times, I just want to know why," snapped Genevieve.

She and the inventor had been arguing back and forth for the past twenty minutes while the other teens watched with varying degrees of horror and amusement.

"Genevieve, your pyrokinesis is too wild and you _still_ haven't told us everything that happened the last time you saw that man. You're not going and that's final."

"I'd like to see you try and stop me," she muttered as he headed out the room.

PAGE BREAK

Making sure the others were asleep, Genevieve slipped on her mission suit and grabbed her gear, darting out of the lab and onto the roof. Taking a deep breath she stared at the horizon.

"I had a feeling you were going." Genevieve bit back a sigh of disappointment as the familiar voice sounded behind her.

"Don't try and stop me Chase," she asked. "This is something I have to do."

"Who said I was going to stop you?" her boyfriend asked, coming up in front of her. "I knew there was no way you weren't going. Hazel knew it too, but she was too exhausted to come."

Genevieve nodded. "We've both been having nightmares lately."

"About what?" Chase questioned.

"Hazel keeps remembering her imprisonment," Genevieve revealed. "She keeps thinking that she finally went crazy and this is all just some dream."

"And your nightmares?" he asked gently. Genevieve pursed her lips and refused to answer.

Chase sighed. "Genevieve, why won't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"

"You mean after you spied on me?" she shot for a teasing tone, but it fell flat.

"Genevieve, I wanted to tell you, I really did," he began miserably, but she interrupted gently.

"It's OK. It wasn't your idea."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Chase asked.

"He didn't hurt me last time," she responded.

"Yeah but you still don't know the first thing about this guy. He could be using you. Or what if the first time was just to get your trust and this time is a trap?" he argued.

"Chase I can take care of myself. I _have_ to go. Everything I'm dealing with… He can help me, I know he can," Genevieve insisted.

Chase sighed. "Hazel knew you couldn't be talked out of this. I guess I knew it too, I just had to try." He took her hand in his gently before continuing, "Hazel and I'll cover for you for as long as we can."

"Thank you," she said, touched by the gesture.

"No problem. Just, come back in one piece, all right?"

She nodded, her throat tightening and then suddenly they were kissing, lips pressed together tightly, hands on each others backs, pressing them up against each other. Genevieve tilted her head, desperately trying to get as much of him as she could, tracing the side of his head with her hand, loving the smooth feel of his cheek, loving everything about him. They broke away, breathing heavily. "I love you," he said.

Genevieve smiled. "I love you too." And with that, she was gone, blurring off to the coordinates of the last meeting.

Entering the building, Genevieve walked up the rickety stairs to the second floor and sat, waiting for midnight, waiting for him.

PAGE BREAK

**Bree**

"Have any of you seen Genevieve?" asked Mr. Davenport as he entered the lab.

"Yeah, she said something about going to the library to see what she could find on Pierce" answered Hazel.

"Really? And, why didn't anyone go with her?" he asked skeptically.

"She left before we woke up. There was just a note saying where she'd gone," jumped in Chase.

Bree looked at the two with raised eyebrows and immediately rolled her eyes. Chase was _definitely_ lying and if he was, Hazel probably was too. Genevieve had almost definitely gone to the meeting. Sighing, the inventor walked back out the door.

"She went to the meeting didn't she?" Bree immediately asked the two.

"Yup," said Hazel idly, practicing a difficult looking kick.

"Bingo," replied Chase dryly, going back to tinkering with a machine of Mr. Davenports he'd taken apart.

Bree chewed the inside of her cheek nervously. She hoped her friend would be OK.

PAGE BREAK

**Genevieve**

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," came the soft voice.

Genevieve swallowed before stepping out of the shadows.

"Ah, there she is! The guest of honor!" said the man, his tone hinting at mocking.

"Very funny," Genevieve snapped, short on patience. "Look. I've trusted you before, but before I do that again I want to know who you are and why you're doing this."

"And why should I tell you that?" the man asked, tilting his covered head.

"Because you seem to know an awful lot about me, yet I barely know the first thing about you," Genevieve replied stubbornly.

"Fair point," the man conceded. "However, if you know who I really am then your trust in me will decrease substantially. You might even decide to leave before I can help you and tell you what you need to know."

"Look Mr. Whoever-you-are. I've trusted you this far, and I don't really care who you are as long as you help me and tell me about Pierce. I promise I won't run on sight without at least giving you the chance to explain who you are and why you didn't tell me sooner. But I can't do that without at least knowing who you are," Genevieve insisted.

"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you when you want to flee in terror," the man said, his tone bordering between playful and warning.

He reached up and removed something from his ear. "Vocal modulator," he explained and Genevieve frowned. There was something oddly familiar about that voice.

The man reached up and pulled off his hood and Genevieve inhaled sharply, resisting her body's urging to get as far away from this man as quickly as possible, forcing herself to stay and listen to the man who had done so much to her, to the man who had revealed the truth about her creation to her.

Of course it made sense he'd know so much about her. He'd created her after all.

"Honey, I'm ho-ome!" said Douglas Davenport, smiling wickedly.


	5. Chapter 5

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 5 (Dakota and Pierce's P.O.V.)

**Dakota**

The men removed the helmet from Dakota's head and she breathed in fresh air. She had just undergone what the men she worked with called a 'wiping'. Dakota had no idea what it meant, just that it had made the headache that had happened ever since she saw…

Dakota frowned. That was strange. Straining her memory, she could almost see a face, could almost feel a touch. Replaying the events leading up, Dakota focused. She and her siblings had been given a mission. They'd gone to go finish it. But…

As the men lead her back to her room, she suddenly stopped walking as it clicked and the memories came rushing back. Subject G. Their mission. Her remembering. Pierce saying to wipe her. It all flooded back.

"Get a move on you," one of the henchmen growled.

She shot him a glare and had her eyes glow red, smirking when he jumped back in fear. Typical newbie.

They reached her and her siblings' "room", so to speak, which consisted of training equipment and their recharge capsules. Right now, her brother and sister were at the firing range, shooting guns into targets a hundred yards away, nailing the bulls-eyes every time.

Walking over she picked up a gun and shot three times in rapid succession, only hitting the circle third closest to the center. It was their signal for, we need to talk without cameras or Pierce listening in. After they'd each used up twenty rounds of bullets, they started the rest of their training schedule. Elizabeth practiced her vocal manipulation by listening to complex sound waves, like exotic birds or extinct animals, and Frank began fighting two men with a blindfold, using his instincts to know who was going to attack next and where. Meanwhile, Dakota continued her attempts to master her flight. Zipping up to the ceiling, she gradually increased her speed, trying to get up to two hundred miles per hour before feeling comfortable enough to use two abilities at once as she activated her heat vision.

Three hours later, and Pierce deemed them fit for a break.

Finally, now she could ask them what it meant.

"Do you guys remember our mission?" Dakota asked quietly, as she and her siblings sat huddling together out of the camera's point of view.

The two nodded. "Well I didn't. Not after they wiped me. Do any of you ever remember anything after they wipe you?"

"I don't think so," answered Frank, screwing up his face in concentration.

"No," Elizabeth whispered, eyes starting to grow wide as she realized what this meant.

"I thought so. What's Pierce really up to? Our past has always been a fog. At least it was but," Dakota glanced behind her, making sure they were out of the guards hearing range. "I'm starting to remember."

Her siblings sharp intakes of breath were all the confirmation she needed to know that her memory coming back was strange.

"Since when?" asked Frank eagerly. His sisters quickly shushed him, and he continued, quieter now, "How long have you been remembering?"

"Ever since the mission," Dakota replied. "When we saw Subject G. We have to know her. She kept telling us to try and remember, but at first I thought she was crazy. But then it started to come back to me. Just for a moment, but enough to convince me she was telling the truth. Maybe we were enemies, but I don't think so. I didn't realize I'd remembered her at first, it was happening too fast. But now that I think about it, I _know_ we know her. I remembered back when we were little. Elizabeth, you and her were especially close."

"But why are you the only one remembering?" her sister protested. "Why can they wipe us but not you?"

"G said I have an eidetic memory, that must be why," she answered, casting a nervous glance back at the guards. They were surely running out of time. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think we should tell Pierce about my remembering." Her siblings started to protest, but Dakota held up a hand to forestall their arguments. "Think about it. He's been stealing our memories for _years_ without telling us. What else has he been hiding from us?"

A buzzer sounded and the three siblings immediately went back to training, switching abilities. Dakota practiced her above and underwater tracking, Frank used his molecular density, and Elizabeth exercised her inflicting.

**Pierce**

Pierce stood, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the three subjects with a scowl on his face. The bugs he had implanted in the walls had done their job.

D was remembering.

His scowl deepened as the implications of this rose into his mind. If D remembered, then even though she was the only one with an eidetic memory, there was still the possibility, however faint, that her siblings could remember also. He would not allow that to happen.

Walking over to his desk, he paged his assistant over the intercom. "Ms. Evelyn, I would like you to bring in the new wipe process immediately. I need it."

"But sir, the process isn't complete," her voice crackled back to him. "The scientists said they need another two weeks to have a final version for you."

"I don't care if they need another two years, I need that process now, before Subject D remembers everything she's forgotten."

"But sir, can't you just keep wiping her?"

"That would be a waste of energy, not to mention time we don't have," Pierce snapped impatiently. "If Subject D, or any one of the three for that matter recall their past we're doomed. We can't put the plan into action without all three of them. They're our only hope. They're the only ones who can combat Subjects G and H and walk away alive. I want that new cleaner by tomorrow understand?"

"Yes sir."


	6. Chapter 6

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 6 (Genevieve's P.O.V.)

"You have about ten seconds to explain to me why I shouldn't warp speed out of here this instant after everything you did to me," Genevieve spat at Douglas angrily, hating the way he stood there, grinning like he had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

"I helped you last time didn't I? Not to mention you need me if you want to fight Pierce," he replied smugly. "I have information you can't get from anyone else."

"Care to give me a little clarification?" Genevieve growled, fighting the sudden urge to set him on fire.

"To keep it simple: I've been working for Pierce, trying to sabotage him from the inside. I joined in years ago, but now he's getting suspicious of me. You remember that app I told you about? The one that controls your human side that _I_ planned to use on you and your sister? Well it's not my app, it's Pierce's. And it's finished."

"Wait a minute," Genevieve said, holding up a hand. "Why didn't you tell me all of this last time?"

"You didn't know who Pierce was last time, he wouldn't have mattered to you. I had to act as a stranger to portray myself as the villain so that you would trust me," Douglas explained impatiently.

"I can see where you're coming from," Genevieve admitted reluctantly. "If I'd known who you were the first time I wouldn't have trusted a thing you said."

"There, see? I'm a genius," her tormentor declared smugly.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth," she spat angrily.

"Weapons don't throw up," said Douglas, his tone laced with warning.

"Douglas, sweetie," said Genevieve condescendingly. "I'm not a weapon. I'm a _human being_. You need to accept that."

The man rolled his eyes before responding, "_I_ know you're a weapon. But Pierce doesn't. He views you, not to mention the others as weapons and nothing else."

Douglas sighed and shook his hair in frustration. "Man, that hood really messed up my 'do."

"Bionic weapons…" Genevieve prompted.

"Right. Genevieve, your chip was designed for so much more than something as simple as World War III," Douglas said, a light coming into his eyes that she remembered would always enter when he talked about his projects.

"You mean something _other_ than setting countries at each other's throats?" snapped Genevieve sarcastically.

"Much more. Genevieve, when I designed you I built your chip similar to Chase's. You have the capacity for so many upgrades. But those upgrades would come with a price. A big one. And so in order to limit the possibilities of that, I installed blocks in your chip so that you could never reach your full capacity." Reaching into a coat pocket, Douglas pulled out a remote with a single button on it. "With a push of this button, the full capacity of your chip will activate and you would turn into a force powerful enough to make a nuclear bomb seem like a water balloon. You would be the fastest, smartest, strongest and most powerful person on the planet. For one week."

Genevieve swallowed her dry mouth. "And what happens when the week runs out?"

"When the week runs out," Douglas looked her straight in the eye. "You will die."

Genevieve stared at the remote as time seemed to slow, felt the sweat drip down her back, saw the glint of moonlight pierce the miniscule cracks in the walls and dip down to the floor, felt her lungs contract and expand as she breathed, staring at the remote and all it represented.

Power.

She would be the most powerful person on the planet.

Protection. 

No one could ever touch her or Hazel again.

Fear.

All her friends would see, all she would see when she looked in the mirror would be a monster.

Death.

She would die a week after pushing that button.

"Give it to me," Genevieve said quietly, her voice low and deadly.

"What, still don't trust me?" he teased.

A coldly raised eyebrow was all he got in response. Shrugging, Douglas tossed her the remote. Carefully catching it, she examined it closely before gingerly slipping it into her mission pouch.

"Pierce hacked into my computer and stole all of my designs for your bionics," Douglas continued as if he hadn't just literally handed Genevieve her life to hold in her hands. "He wanted to replicate your designs but do it without the blocks, time limit or expiration date but he couldn't figure out how."

"Hold the phone for just a second," Genevieve interrupted. "What do you mean, 'expiration date'?"

"Oh you mean I didn't tell you?" asked Douglas in confusion. At her confused expression he shrugged and muttered, "Guess not." Raising his voice he continued "It's the same problem I had with Marcus and all my other androids. You weren't born the normal way remember? I grew you. But I couldn't fix the expiration date. Originally it was eighteen, but then I added all the upgrades to your chip. You expire when you're sixteen years old."

Genevieve realized her jaw was open and closed it with a snap. "Are you saying," she began, slowly and carefully, "That I'm going to _die_ when I'm _sixteen_?"

"Was I not clear enough?" Douglas asked with a frown.

"But that's eight months from now!" Genevieve protested. There was so much she wouldn't get to do…

"Yeah well, you win some you lose some," Douglas said with a shrug, his tone nonchalant. She hated him for it. "Now look: even though you were built for more than World War III, it's still going to happen. Pierce is building an army. They're growing the same way you were, and he is going to use them to execute his plan to start the third world war. I've been on the inside. Pierce trusts me, to a certain extent at least, and in other words I know how to stop him. If you want to have any chance of keeping this world safe, then we need to work together."

"Get real." Genevieve spat. "There is no way I would ever _help_ you! You're lucky I'm coming within ten _miles_ of you!"

"Fine then, have it your way. But if you want this world to be in one piece when Pierce is gone, then I'm your only hope." Reaching into a pocket again, he pulled out the remote she'd used the last time she'd confronted him, after he'd captured her.

Pressing a series of buttons, Douglas teleported out of the building, leaving Genevieve to her thoughts and choices, the remote pressed against her hip.


	7. Chapter 7

A Lab Rats Fanfic

Up In Flames

Chapter 7 (Hazel's P.O.V.)

Hazel paced the rooftop, a frown etched on her face as she waited for her twin to return. Shivering, she rubbed her arms as a wind traced a path around the roof, wrapping Hazel into its chilly embrace.

As she shook off the cold, a different breeze sped by. The kind of breeze that slowed to a stop a few feet away from her. The kind of breeze that vibrated into Genevieve.

"They figured out you were gone," said Hazel bluntly. "Chase and I wouldn't tell them where, but they're angry."

The scowl on Genevieve's face went deeper at the news. "How mad?"

Hazel tilted her chin for a minute before deciding, "Not as mad as the time Adam accidentally exploded a pink paint bomb in Mr. Davenport's bedroom and we all had to clean it up, but worse than the time you rigged Eddy to speak in Latin."

Rubbing her eyes in frustration a slight growl escaped her twin's throat. "Perfect. Because that's just what I need right now."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" asked Genevieve, her tone slightly hysterical. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes rose as she spoke words that sent Hazel flying. "The man I met with was Douglas."

"_Douglas_?" Hazel screamed.

"Yeah. And as if that wasn't enough, he's trying to play 'the good guy'. I mean, come _on. _As if," she snorted.

"_Please_ tell me you didn't trust him," asked Hazel, perilously close to begging as she pressed her hands into her eyes.

"Really? Come on sis, give me a little credit. I trust the information he's giving me, mainly because he was happy about it and it caused pain. However, I don't, nor will I _ever_, trust Douglas. Not after everything he did."

"Thank goodness," Hazel muttered into her fingers. "For a minute there I thought I was going to have to slap you."

Raising her head she found Genevieve staring at her strangely. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Thanks," said Genevieve, somehow infusing more sarcasm than Hazel would've thought possible into that one syllable.

"So what did he say?" demanded Hazel.

"Well first off, it turns out that aside from being born to start World War III, I was too powerful to live. Literally." Hazel watched as the girl who could've stepped out of her mirror reached into her weapon's holster and pulled out a sleek silver remote topped with a single red button.

"When he was creating me, the energy from the chip would've built too much power into my nervous system so he installed blocks on my chip that limit the energy I can let out. I push this button and those blocks are removed. Unfortunately, he neglected to fix the other 'problems'." She tried to hide it, but Hazel could spot the bitterness in her tone.

"Define problems, exactly."

"I push this button and I die a week later. And even if I don't, there's too much energy anyway. I die on our sixteenth birthday in eight months."

Hazel's mind seemed to freeze as she processed this. Staring intently at her sister, she tried to decipher what she was feeling. Suddenly, controlling emotions surged across the link, hitting her like a solid blow to her gut and choking off her breath as her pupils dilated and the emotion consumed her as Hazel clutched her stomach and struggled to breathe.

PANIC

Panic flew across the link, overwhelming her circuits and cutting off all rational thought.

TERROR

Terror swelled into her heart and head, causing her mind to whirl until it centered on-

DEATH

Her head cleared and thoughts returned to her brain as a hand placed itself on her shoulder and sucked away the emotion like a vacuum.

"Sorry about that. It's been so many years since we had it I still sometimes forget about the link and don't remember that I need to keep a better reign on my emotions around you," Genevieve apologized as her twin's emotions receded from her head.

"Don't worry about it," Hazel gasped, still trying to reclaim her ability to breathe properly. "Worry about you. Because there is absolutely no way you are going to go and die on me when we turn sixteen. I'd kill you first."

"OK, I'm sort of getting mixed signals from you right about now," said Genevieve teasingly. "Do you want to save me or murder me?"

"To be determined," Hazel snapped, feeling nettled.

"I'm touched."

"Good for you, I'm glad."

"So, how long do you think I can put off talking to them?" Genevieve asked as she inquiringly tapped the roof they were standing on.

"I'd say the sooner the better frankly, but that's just me. Although the longer you put it off, likely the angrier they'll get."

"Fine. Let's wake them up." Before Hazel could react her elbow was locked with Genevieve's, a wind rushed by and they were in the living room.

Shaking her head to clear the blood rush from her eyes, her vision cleared and Hazel blinked away the last few spots to see Genevieve grabbing a large wooden spoon and beginning to bang the metal pot already in her hand.

Sitting herself down on the sofa Hazel nabbed the phone Bree had left on the coffee table and began flicking through her texts as Genevieve made a continuous racket. No sooner than thirty seconds later, Mr. Davenport and Tasha came running down the stairs.

"Mr. Davenport! What are you wearing?!" Hazel shouted over the din.

"They're silk-monogrammed pajamas imported from China!" he shouted back, fingers in his ears as he walked over and tried to grab the pan and spoon from Genevieve without success.

"And you bought them why exactly?!"

"You're just jealous because they make you feel inferior! And Genevieve _you_, are in BIG TROUBLE young lady!" Mr. Davenport yelled practically right in Genevieve's ear.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Spare me the lecture for later would you?!" Genevieve hollered back.

Leo came tripping into the kitchen from the hallway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Where's the cannon?" he asked in confusion.

At that minute the elevator dinged open and the three bionics tumbled out, Chase being supported by his sister as he grasped his ears in pain.

"Stop that racket!" Bree screamed at the top of her lungs.

Hazel glanced up to see Genevieve turn and see the three bionics, and stop the banging.

"Sorry Chase. I forgot about your hearing," she apologized.

"Genevieve, exactly why did you see fit to make a racket that would wake the dead?" Mr. Davenport asked, as he huffily smoothed out his pajamas. "No wait: don't answer that," he corrected himself as she opened her mouth to respond. "Better question. WHERE WERE YOU?"

"First off, it's almost four in the morning. You were going to wake those three up for training in a few hours anyway. Second, Hazel said you're furious, and the longer I put off talking to you the angrier you'll get and since I just got back I figured what better time to talk to you than now. And as an answer to your last question… I can't tell you."

"Why not?" asked Leo.

"Huh! Is it because you're not really Genevieve? Are you a robot imposter trying to spy on us for the government?" asked Adam in excitement.

"No-" Genevieve began, but Adam interrupted with, "That's _exactly_ what a robot spy would say. And so I would like to go on record and say it was all Leo and Chase's fault."

Hazel watched in amusement as Chase threw up his hands in exasperation. "Adam, Leo's not even bionic. And that is the real Genevieve, because if it was a robot, then Hazel wouldn't be able to sense her on the link and would know that it's not Genevieve. Finally: what's our fault?"

"Guys can you please shut up so I can yell at her? Great, thanks, now Genevieve," Mr. Davenport continued, "Why can't you tell us?"

"Because you'll be furious, and since I have a headache that's something I'd really rather not deal with right now," Hazel's twin replied, rubbing her temples.

"I would not. Besides, how do you know I'd be furious? I'm a billionaire genius, and you're a nothing-aire non-genius," he said smugly.

"Uh, Mr. D?" Hazel called over.

"What?"

"If you really were a genius, then shouldn't you know that the words, nothing-aire, and non-genius, don't exist?" Hazel questioned.

"That's besides the point," he said superiorly, after awkwardly stuttering for a few seconds. "Now you two: stop changing the subject. Genevieve, you are not going anywhere until you tell me where you were."

"Mr. Davenport, how are you going to stop her? I mean, she does have super-speed," Adam injected into the conversation. "I know! You could superglue her to the floor!"

"But couldn't I just take my feet out of the shoes?" Genevieve questioned.

"Not if they were double-knotted!" he said happily, thumping his chest. "Poned!"

"I'll just _pretend_, that wasn't new levels of stupid," snapped Hazel. "Now Mr. Davenport, relax. Why is it so important that Genevieve tells you where she went?"

"Because my brother and this Pierce guy are not going to stop going after her," he said impatiently. "I mean, please, isn't it obvious?"

"You'll have to excuse us for not having your levels of genius," said Bree sarcastically, still supporting Chase who was currently-

"Chase, why are you hitting yourself in the head?" Hazel asked, a confused frown stuck to her face.

"I'm trying to make the ringing in my ears go away," he explained.

"I don't think that's the best way to do it."

"You're right, but honestly I'm too tired to care right now," he replied before going back to smacking himself on the ear.

"We're getting off topic!" Mr. Davenport interrupted loudly. "Genevieve, you are going to tell us where you went, end of discussion."

"Well then if it's the end of discussion, I guess I don't have to tell you do I?" she said snarkily.

"Very funny," the inventor snapped. "If you don't tell me, I won't let you in your capsule for a week."

"Works for me. You're the one who'll have to deal with the fires popping up, flinging up to the ceiling from lack of gravity every time you walk and me screaming in pain from my empathy app," Genevieve replied with a shrug.

"Bree?" he said questioningly.

"Don't look at me. I'm not saying anything," Bree said stubbornly.

"Yes you are. That is, assuming you want to see that Beyoncé concert next week," he replied threateningly.

Hazel buried her face in her hands as Bree's eyes bugged out of her head.

"Bree…" Genevieve said warningly.

The teenage girl clapped her hands to her mouth and a mumbled sound came out, before taking her hands off of her mouth and having said mumble turn into: "Genevieve went to the meeting that you told her not to with the same guy as last time!" she blurted.

"Bree!" said Hazel's sister angrily. Wincing, Hazel gave herself a little mental shake to rid herself of the fury trickling across the link.

"What? It's Beyoncé!" Bree pouted.

"You did what!" yelled Mr. Davenport. "Genevieve, how could you go to that meeting after I specifically told you not to?" he demanded.

"Look. Mr. Davenport, I'm sorry I disobeyed you, but I _had_ to go. He'd helped me before. But don't worry, you don't have to worry about me going to any more meetings with _him_, in the foreseeable and invisible future," Genevieve said in an attempt to pacify him.

"Oh really? And would you care to share why that is?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Mr. Davenport," Genevieve said, as though talking to a five year old. "I'm an empath remember? I can feel how angry you're getting, and since I'm a teenage girl who knows you, then I can guarantee that said anger will skyrocket if you know the reason with as much certainty as if I were betting on Adam failing a test."

"Then tell me anyway, since I don't think it _could _get much worse," he demanded. "Also, I'm already awake at four in the morning so we might as well keep the bad day rolling," he added.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. Also, you should know that that I didn't know who it was before I got to the meeting before freaking out, OK?"

Nodding, the dark-haired scientist gestured for her to continue.

Giving a sigh, Genevieve revealed: "It was Douglas."

"DOUGLAS!" everyone in the room minus Hazel and Genevieve yelled.

"You went to a meeting with DOUGLAS!" Mr. Davenport clarified angrily.

"Relax would you? I told you, I didn't know who it was before I got there and he told me," she snapped.

"What did he say?" Bree demanded.

"Nothing important," she lied. But Hazel's eyes caught how Genevieve's hand drifted to her weapon's holster where the remote was.

"Are you OK?" Chase asked in concern.

"Who cares if she's OK?" Mr. Davenport said angrily before she could answer. "I'm more concerned with her _sanity_!"

"Mr. Davenport, for the LAST TIME, I didn't know it was Douglas before I got there!" Genevieve exclaimed in exasperation.

"It doesn't matter. If you hadn't gone against my judgment, you wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place!"

"Your judgment? You mean the rules. That's what this is about, isn't it? You want me to follow the rules more and make less trouble, like a good robot should."

"I never said that," Mr. Davenport defended himself.

"You didn't have to!" Genevieve yelled angrily. "I see how you look at me! I'm nothing but a project to you! Just some piece of machinery that you managed to steal from your brother and decided to keep chained up until you find a use for me!"

"Alright Genevieve, that's over the line," said the scientist angrily.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"NO. It's NOT. But you want to know what is?" Genevieve demanded.

"Sure, please share," the inventor said mockingly.

"You expecting me to follow the rules. Because let me tell you something tough guy. If I played by the rules, then I wouldn't be standing here right now. I'd be a slave to some wacked out scientist, before getting kidnapped by Pierce and being used to start World War III! So don't tell me to play by the rules got it?!" Genevieve shouted.

At that moment, the glass shattered as men clad in black swooped into the house through the windows.

Hazel leapt off of the couch and dropped into a fighting stance, as the other bionics did the same in her peripheral vision and Mr. Davenport, Tasha and Leo all ducked for cover in the kitchen.

A panic like no other seized Hazel as the men's vision zeroed in on her and Genevieve and the man with a red stripe on his arm commanded in a gruff voice, "There are the twins! Grab them!"

**PAGE BREAK**

**Hey everyone! Yeah, I'm alive! A miracle right? Although I might not be for long for leaving y'all with such a cliffhanger. Please stay away from torches and pitchforks. For my safety. So anyway, I have a reason for not posting in a while I promise! You might not like it, but, well, you know. It's my only one. So… Yeah. Don't judge me! Anyway, the reason is, well, reason**_**s**__**are**_**, I didn't have a chance to write. Mainly because I didn't have my computer. No, I didn't drop it in the toilet or anything like that. I don't think my computer would even fit in a toilet. Moving on: I was on a school trip to Europe for the summer from June 16-26. But before Europe: I had finals. Lucky, lucky me. So I had finals June 2, 3 and 4, and then I was busy celebrating my freedom of summer, and then I had Driver's Ed from the 9-14. And when I got back from Europe, I only had three days before we left for my grandma's in LA for the fourth of July. I just got back two days ago, (Sunday, for those of you without a calendar,) and then I slept for a lot of yesterday, and then I had to babysit my little brother for most of today. Finally, I decided to change an upcoming part of the story and had to rework a considerable chunk of plotline. So for the future of the summer, I am not going to have my computer a lot. I will be trying to update/work on chapters when I can, but there may be gaps in my edit time. For example, later in July I'm going to a two-week sleep away summer camp and don't get back until August. No computer there either. So from now on, I will try to post at the end of chapters if I'm going to have a two-week gap or something like that in my stories so you don't think I'm dead, since I tend to update pretty often. But aside from that, I will try to get updates as often as possible. Hope you liked the chapter. And sorry about the cliffhanger, (well, not really!) but fair warning: prepare for a lot of them. Mwah-ha-ha! Power! I have writer's power! I'm not crazy. Yes I'm sure. I promise! I just hear voices! Heeheehee… evil laugh. ****( ;) JK!)** OK, so maybe I'm a _**little**_** crazy. But so what? Aren't we all?**

**Later!**

**Kisses, love, and Lab Rats.**

**-soccermonkey413**


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